A gaseous radiation detector provides radioactive information by measuring the radioactive ionizing of gas under a strong electrical field between the anode and cathode. The ionization charge is usually multiplied by avalanches and then measured to correlate to the radiation flux and energy distribution. In some cases, the position information of radioactive ionizing can be detected by distributed anodes. The gaseous detectors are reliable, stable, easy to operate and relative inexpensive comparing to newly-developed solid state detectors, and they are still the main stream of radiation monitoring, detection and research. Typical gaseous radiation detectors include Geiger-Müller counters, Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers (MWPC), Micro-Strip Gas Chamber (MSGC), Gas Electron Multipliers (GEM), Micromegases, Time Projection Chambers (TPC) and etc. Normally their operation voltage is very high (800-2000V) which is the main barrier for the implementation of a gadget like a pocket gaseous radiation dosimeter. Such personal carrying device demands high safety, good performance, light-weight, compact size and low cost.
There is a need for gaseous radiation detectors that operate at lower voltages. There is also a need for compact size gaseous radiation detectors.